Real Madrid – Atlético Madrid: Arbeloa’s Ruthless Run Through Football’s Finest (3-2)

Álvaro Arbeloa ended Real Madrid’s winless streak against Atlético Madrid in La Liga. The recipe remained intact, in which Valverde and Vinicius Junior were the main ingredients. Arbeloa’s touches had become clear in the way Real Madrid operates. However, out-of-possession is still an area of concern.

Tactical analysis and match report by Achraf Lamdarhri.

We decided to make this article free to read. If you want to support our work, consider taking a subscription.

In the Champions League, writing off Real Madrid, even when they fluctuate between highs and lows, proved to be a disastrous mistake. The exception had become a tradition for Los Blancos. In the middle of a crisis, Alvaro Arbeloa’s side delivered their best performance to kick Manchester City out of the competition. Nevertheless, the road to Budapest is full of heavy challenges for Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich is the next station. But before that, the White team has Atlético Madrid as a real test to examine Arbeloa’s side’s consistency. The team fielded in recent games and responsible for recent wins seemed to be the right formula to strike a balance across the starting eleven.

The Spanish teams showed their true essence in the Champions League. Barcelona eliminated Newcastle United, Real Madrid saw off Manchester City, and Atlético Madrid exacerbated Tottenham’s situation with Igor Tudor. As a consequence, Diego Simeone will face Barcelona for the second time in the 2025/26 season in a knockout competition. Atlético ousted the Catalans to secure a spot in the final of the Copa del Rey, with the hope of replicating the same in the Champions League. In the pre-game interview, Simeone stated that rotations are a must, given the schedule of games. However, he proceeded by fielding nearly the same players who started the game against Tottenham.

Simeone fielded Marcus Llorente and Matteo Ruggeri as fullbacks, with Robin Le Normand partnering with David Hancko in the middle of the backline. Johnny Cardoso joined Koke in the pivot. Giuliano Simeone and Ademola Lookman hugged the touchlines. Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann led Atlético Madrid’s attack.

Alvaro Arbeloa made one change to the eleven that faced Manchester City. Fran Garcia, Dean Huijsen, and  Antonio Rüdiger kept their positions. Alexander-Arnold made way for Dani Carvajal in the right back spot. Thiago Pitarch and Aurélien Tchouaméni remained intact. Federico Valverde and Arda Güler operated as wide midfielders. Vinicius Junior accompanied Brahim Diaz in the attack.

Intact in-possession dynamics and off-ball problems for Real Madrid 

Similar to Manchester City’s clash, Fran Garcia and Dani Carvajal pushed on, leaving room for Arda Güler and Thiago Pitarch to fill their spots. That gave license to Brahim Diaz to come from high to low positions to operate next to Tchouaméni. Additionally, Diaz’s deeper movements dragged Le Normand forward and gave Real Madrid the numerical advantage in the buildup phase. Pitarch’s position situationally changed. At the start of the play, he pulled wide on the right to draw Alvarez across and allow the left-side crew to overload Griezmann. As the play was funneled toward Güler, Pitarch narrowed inside as a free man. On the right, he provided the backline an outlet to progress around or as a bridge to channel the play to the left side. Pitarch’s position and the wide center-backs expanded the distances for Atlético to shuffle across. Hence, the hosts were able to access Güler and break Atlético’s lines.

High up the pitch, Real Madrid proceeded by pressing in a 4-4-2 diamond fashion against Atlético’s 4+2 shape. Vinicius Junior followed Le Normand, with Güler jumping onto Llorente. Pitarch shifted across with Cardoso, with Brahim Diaz taking charge of Koke. Valverde narrowed inside, moving closer to Alvarez, whilst Tchouaméni blocked off the central access to Griezmann. Fran Garcia stepped out on Simeone, with the rest of the backline swinging across to protect the space behind Real Madrid’s left back. Swarming around the ball in numbers down the left side enabled Pitarch to steal the ball and head toward the byline before working it back to the wide Vinicius Junior. The latter escaped traffic, prodding the ball between Le Normand for Brahim Diaz to penetrate the box and play it back to Carvajal at the edge of the box. The latter pulled the trigger, but Musso saved the shot.

Three minutes in, Real Madrid recycled to Lunin, baiting Atlético Madrid forward with Arda Güler dropping wide and pulling out Cardoso. The Turkish midfielder found Vinicius Junior coming deep and swapped positions. Meanwhile, Brahim Diaz tied Koke’s hands down the left half-space, which allowed Vinicius Junior to drift infield and switch the ball to Carvajal. Valverde, operating in the middle of the park, pinned Ruggeri near the halfway line, with Lookman narrowing inside toward Pitarch, which saw Carvajal receive in space and drive forward. The space was at a premium between the lines for Valverde and Brahim Diaz to connect and penetrate the box. However, the numbers around the Moroccan halted his effect.

Real Madrid had problems transitioning from a zonal block to a high press. Thiago Pitarch tended to jump from the midfield line to the Atlético buildup line, swapping markers with Brahim Diaz. Meanwhile, Julian Alvarez dropped deeper down the left half-space, with Rudiger being reluctant to follow the Argentinian forward. The swapping process between Diaz and Pitarch, with Valverde’s attention on Ruggeri, allowed Atlético’s center-backs to exchange passes and access Alvarez. From there, the latter worked the ball to Lookman in an isolated situation against Carvajal. Pitarch’s recovery run and Rudiger’s support outnumbered Lookman, neutralizing his effect.

8th minute: Real Madrid’s buildup sequence. Rüdiger entices Álvarez to press and pick out Tchouaméni. The latter works the ball around his compatriot Griezmann. Meanwhile, Le Normand and Ruggeri jump on Güler and Carvajal isolates Valverde against Hancko near the touchlines. The former dribbles past the latter to punish the space behind. Valverde sprints and enters the box to fire the ball into the far post.

Seconds later, Rudiger’s lateness in stepping up on Alvarez gave the visitors the chance to recycle. Atlético Madrid exploited the gaps that appeared whilst the rivals laterally shifted. To elaborate, Llorente and Simeone switched positions along the pitch near the touchlines. Fran Garcia ran toward Atlético’s winger, whereas Huijsen shifted across to take charge of Llorente. Due to Tchouaméni slowly retreating, Griezmann dashed into the stretched space between Real Madrid’s center-backs. An up, back, and through sequence between the visitors’ trio put Griezmann in isolation against Rudiger inside the box. Llorente raced out, leaving Huijsen in his wake, and joined his teammate to overload Rudiger. Griezmann slid the ball across for Llorente to fire the shot. Lunin heroically saved Llorente’s delivery.

Real Madrid’s wide connections, Julian Alvarez’s deeper movements

Valverde, operating as a situational striker in possession, put him in a situation in which he led the high press from open play. As Atlético worked the ball to Llorente, Vinicius Junior would jump on Atlético’s right back, with Tchouaméni and Pitarch backing up the press by staying close to the double pivots. Furthermore, Brahim Diaz would be ready to pounce on the visitors’ far-side center-back. So, as Simeone’s side recycled, Valverde and Brahim Diaz pounced on the goalkeeper and Hancko, forcing the play toward the right side. There, Arda Güler ran toward Ruggeri, with Pitarch following Koke. Real Madrid’s quartet trapped the visitors’ ball-side center-back and left back near the flanks, with Valverde regaining and combining to attempt to exploit Atlético’s disorganized shape. Güler fed Tchouaméni, who picked out Vinicius down the left half-space. The Brazilian blasted the ball over.

In settled possession, Real Madrid relied on wide connections to penetrate Atlético Madrid’s 5-3-2 low block. Los Blancos would circulate the ball on the right and work it around to the left side. By doing so, it enticed Griezmann and Alvarez to jump onto the center-backs, with Simeone stepping up on Fran Garcia. Cardoso engaged with Güler down the left half-space. That isolated Vinicius against Llorente. Fran Garcia provided his service via underlapping runs to drag his marker with him, with Güler filling his spot. Cardoso and Llorente doubled on Vinicius Junior, which freed up Güler to slice through Atlético’s block.

25th minute: The wide rotations between Güler, Vinicius, and Fran Garcia put the Turkish midfielder in a comfortable situation to pick out his options. Valverde comes short, overloading Koke with Brahim Diaz. Valverde collects Güler’s pass and turns, preparing for his shot. Cardoso disrupts Valverde’s rituals at the last second.

Half an hour gone, Llorente’s advanced position allowed Le Normand to fill his spot, with Cardoso stepping back as a situational center-back. Vinicius cut off the passing lane between the pair; however, Koke came short to bounce the pass off to Le Normand. In the meantime, Alvarez dashed deeper, pulling out Huijsen, and Garcia, being distracted by Llorente’s intention to run, stretched Real Madrid’s lines vertically. Hence, Simeone was able to find a pocket of space to drop and draw Huijsen’s attention. That freed up Alvarez in the middle of the park, with Griezmann roaming around and overloading Brahim Diaz. The pair worked the ball to Lookman in a one-on-one against Carvajal, who blocked off the Nigerian shot.

Two minutes later, Real Madrid’s wide connections seemed to pave the road for the hosts to infiltrate the box. Arbeloa’s players were positionally rotating. This time, Tchouaméni joined Carvajal and Valverde on the right. He pinned Hancko down the half-space with Carvajal drawing Ruggeri upward. Valverde slid the ball to Tchaouméni and exploited the gap between Atlético’s center-backs. Ruggeri and Hancko doubled up on Tchouaméni, who retained the ball and glided it to Valverde. The latter, with the cutback, tended to find central and back-post options, but the response was late.

33rd minute: Alvarez drops deeper, overloading Pitarch, which gives the Argentinian striker time and space to clip the ball toward Lookman. Valverde and Rudiger double up on Lookman. With Ruggeri overlapping, the Nigerian winger picks him out and heads toward the center at the edge of the six-yard box. Ruggeri, with a square pass between Rudiger’s feet, feeds Simeone, who drags Huijsen across and flicks the ball to Lookman. Carvajal’s late retreat and Valverde’s focus on the ball allow Lookman to comfortably guide the ball home.

Five minutes into the second half, Real Madrid’s close proximity in possession served them well in counterpressing and regaining the ball as quickly as possible. Following this event, Valverde, Carvajal, and Brahim Diaz generated a three-versus-three situation on the right side, with Arda Güler pinning Cardoso inside the box. Valverde accessed Brahim Diaz, putting him in a one-on-one against Hancko inside the box. The former drove toward the byline to be fouled by the latter, which drove the referee to award the hosts a penalty kick. Vinicius Junior leveled the tie. Five minutes later, Valverde pounced on Giménez, dispossessing him to put the ball home.

Real Madrid pulled punches after the second goal

After the second goal, Real Madrid retreated to defend deeper. Relying on wide connections, Atlético Madrid tended to generate crossing situations to target Alexander Sørloth. On the right side, Molina attempted to underlap Simeone, with Pitarch taking charge of the Argentinian right back. Llorente anchored Tchouaméni in the right half-space. Meanwhile, Fran Garcia provided support to Pitarch; however, that only led to freeing up Simeone to whip outswinging crosses toward the far post.

65th minute: Alvarez breaks down Real Madrid’s midfield line to access Llorente down the right half-space. Molina, with an underlapping run, drags Fran Garcia deeper. Llorente shifts wide to generate an overload with Simeone around Brahim Diaz. Llorente collects the pass and drives forward to play the cross. However, Huijsen clears the ball away.

One minute later, Koke pulled wide, dragging Kylian Mbappé with him. That saw Julian Alvarez stepping back behind the block. Meanwhile, Llorente tied Brahim Diaz’s hands down the central channel, whereas Simeone pinned Fran Garcia inside the box. Tchouaméni stepped up onto Alvarez, who found Molina roaming freely down the right half-space. The Argentinian right back pulled the trigger, firing the ball toward the top left corner of the net to equalize the score.

Real Madrid didn’t wait for too long to respond. After drawing the visitors toward the left side, Fran Garcia carried the ball across the pitch to pick out the free Antonio Rudiger. The hosts worked the ball around to Arnold, who tricked Nicolas Gonzalez and drove between the latter and Koke, breaking down Atlético’s midfield line. In the meantime, Mbappé dragged Llorente deeper, allowing the English right back to switch the play to the free Vinicius Junior on the left half-space. The Brazilian cut in and curled the ball toward the bottom right of the net.

After Valverde’s red card, Real Madrid retreated to defend in a 4-4-1 low block. The White team attempted to seize the opportunity to cut the ball off and counter to exploit Atlético’s advanced fullbacks’ position. The visitors pushed Los Blancos deep. To elaborate, Llorente, pulling wide, drew Fran Garcia’s attention. Baena arrived from behind to attack the box, dragging Tchouaméni with him. Sørloth and Gonzalez pinned Rudiger and Arnold, with Bellingham covering the space in front of the backline. At the same time, Camavinga jumped on Molina to prevent him from shooting. However, the latter spotted Alvarez free at the edge of the box. The visitors’ striker fired the shot into the right post.

Takeaways

Real Madrid kept the run of good results alive. During the crisis of injury, Álvaro Arbeloa appeared to strike a balance and figure out a squad of players complementing each other. The same tactical dynamics were maintained against Atlético Madrid. Against Manchester City, Los Blancos counted on counterattacks and direct play to cut through the Citizens. Against Atlético Madrid, Arbeloa’s side showed their capabilities to play and dismantle a low block, with an intense counterpress to regain the ball immediately and sustain attacks. Still, there are problems out-of-possession hindering Real Madrid, especially when pressing high up the pitch. Not only that, but the White team tended to concede territory after a winning game state, which allows the opposition the opportunity to return in the game.

Use the arrows to scroll through all available match plots. Click to enlarge.
Check the match plots page for plots of other matches.